• Offices & Administration
• About LDH
• LDH News

LDH News

• June 07, 2017

  Gov. Edwards Applauds the Trump Administration for Naming Louisiana One of the Toughest States on Fighting Medicaid Fraud

  Today, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced that the Trump Administration’s Office of Inspector General Department of Health and Human Services audit has found that Louisiana’s Medicaid program has complied with the federal fraud reporting requirements, has the proper procedures in place to report fraud and is not in need of any recommendations for improvement. Louisiana is one of only four states to pass this audit since 2014.

• May 10, 2017

  New program pays for some employer-sponsored health insurance

  Some Louisiana residents who are employed but currently receive their health care coverage under Medicaid may now be eligible for a program that will allow them to afford coverage from their employer.

• April 19, 2017

  Our Views: Roll out of Medicaid popular in state (The Advocate)

  Perhaps it sounds a little odd, but people both in Louisiana and elsewhere are sometimes fuzzy about the differences between the Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act, expanded Medicaid, and “Obamacare” — the politically charged term that involves the whole of the parts.

• April 11, 2017

  LSU Survey: Medicaid Expansion has 72% approval

  About three fourths of residents (72 percent) approve of expansion. Approval of the move extends across a number of demographic and political groups. Democrats (91 percent) and independents (73 percent) approve of Medicaid expansion. While Republicans are less enthusiastic about the policy, they lean toward approval (51 percent approval versus 45 percent disapproval).

• March 17, 2017

  Congress shouldn't snatch Medicaid expansion away: Editorial

  More than 405,000 Louisiana residents who were uninsured a year ago now have coverage because of the Medicaid expansion offered under the Affordable Care Act. That is even more than the state predicted would sign up.

• March 10, 2017

  Louisiana Department of Health Seeks Provider Input on Medicaid Quality Measures

  The Louisiana Department of Health will host a series of town hall meetings with clinical providers from across the state to solicit input on the selection of Medicaid performance quality measures.

• March 01, 2017

  Department of Health and Department of Corrections team up to provide health care coverage for newly released offenders

  Numerous studies show that access to mental health, substance use and other health care services helps former offenders better integrate back into their communities, lessening the likelihood of these individuals committing future crimes. Now, because of Medicaid expansion, the Louisiana Department of Health and the Department of Corrections are helping incarcerated individuals enroll into Medicaid, with coverage beginning once the individual’s sentence is complete and they transition out of prison.

• February 16, 2017

  Medicaid Expansion enrollment increases to 400,635; uninsured rate drops

  Medicaid Expansion enrollment in Louisiana reaches 400,635 new members enrolled, and the most recent Gallup report shows the uninsured rate in Louisiana has decreased by nearly half to 12.5 percent in 2016, down from 21.7 percent in 2013. Gallop cites expansion as the key contributor for the reduction in the uninsured rate.

• February 13, 2017

  Our Views: Keep a focus on insurance coverage

  If the goal of health policy is to keep people healthier, there is a lot of room for debate over how to go about that process. If the measurement is insurance coverage, so that medical care is more easily available and affordable, "Obamacare" is a big success.

• February 08, 2017

  Louisiana Health Secretary Dr. Rebekah Gee responds to Sen. Kennedy on Medicaid

  Medicaid expansion is covering hundreds of thousands more working adults and ensuring they have access to primary care. In addition, Medicaid Expansion is bringing in more federal tax dollars to our state and saving Louisiana taxpayers $184 million.

• February 02, 2017

  In Case You Missed It: There is ample evidence that Medicaid expansion gives patients better care through increased access to primary care

  At the national level, where there is a move to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, and in Louisiana where some officials want to end Medicaid expansion, there are critics who use the argument that Medicaid patients get worse care than those without coverage.

• February 01, 2017

  Has Expanding Medicaid Made People Healthier?

  For all the debate about whether states should expand eligibility for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, it’s unclear whether doing so actually makes people healthier. Initial research into the impact of expansion is at the same time exhaustive and scarce, as well as seemingly contradictory in some cases.